EUPlIORBIACEiE. (SPUUGE FAMILY.) 457 



spikes along the base ; the intervening portion naked, or with a few small 

 scales. — Woods, mountains of Ky., W. Va., and southward. Marcli- May. 



3. PHYLLANTHUS, I.. 



Flowers monaM-ious, axillary. Calyx usually 5-6-parted, iniI)ri(atod in the 

 bud. Petals none. Stamens mostly . 'J, erect in the bud, often united. Ovules 

 2 in eaciicell of the ovary. C'apsulc depressed ; each carpel 2-valved, 2-8eoded. 

 Seeds not carunculate. — Leaves alternate, 2-ranked, with small stipules. 

 (Name composed of <pi'\\ou, lea/', and &vdos, h.'ossom, because the Howers iu a 

 few species are borne upon leaf-like dilated branches.) 



1. P. Carolinensis, VV'alt. Annual, low and slender, branched ; leaves 

 obovate or oval, short-petioled ; flowers commonly 2 iu each axil, almost ses- 

 sile, one staminate, the other fertile ; calyx 6-parted ; stamens 3 ; styles 3, 

 each 2-cleft; glands of the disk in tiie fertile flowers united iuacup. — Grav- 

 elly banks, E. Tenn. to Fla., west to S. Ind. and 111. July -Sept. 



4. JATROPHA, L. 



Flowers monoecious, rarely dia'cious, in a terminal open forking cyme ; the 

 fertile ones usually in the lower forks. Calyx corolla-like, in the staminate 

 flowers often salver shaped, 5-lobed ; in the pistillate, 5-parted, imbricated or 

 convolute in the bud. Corolla of 5 distinct or apparently united petals, or 

 none. Glands of the disk opposite the calyx-lobes. Stamens 10-30, in 2 or 

 more whorls ; filaments monadelphous at base. Ovary mostly 3-celled ; styles 

 3, united below, their summits once or twice forked. Capsule 3-celled, 

 3-seeded, separating into 3 two-valved carpels. Seed carunculate. — Peren- 

 nial herbaceous or shrubby plants, chiefly tropical, with alternate mostly 

 long-petioled palmately-veined leaves, and stipules. — Our species is of the 

 section Cnidoscolus, with apetalous flowers, the staminate corolla salver- 

 form, and the plants mostly armed witli stinging bristles. (Name said by 

 Linna'us to l)e formed of larphu, a ranedij, and cpdyoj, to eat.) 



I. J. Stimulosa, Michx. (Tread-softly. Spurge-Nettlk.) Herba- 

 ceous, from a long pereuuial root, branching (6' -2° high) ; leaves roundish- 

 heart-shaped, 3- 5-lobed nearly to the base, on long petioles; the divisions 

 entire or acutely tootiied, cut, or even pinnatifid, often discolored ; flowers 

 white, fragrant, 9" long or more; filaments 10, monadelphous only at the 

 woolly base, or the outer set almost distinct. (J. urens, var. stimulosa, 

 J. MiielL) — Dry sandy soil, Va. to Fla. and La. June -Sept. 



5. CROTON, L. 



Flowers mona-cious, rarely di(i!cious, mostly in terminal spike-like racemes 

 or spikes. Skr. Fl. Calyx 5- (rarely 4-6-) parted; the divisions lightly 

 imbricated or nearly valvate in the bud. Petals usually present, as many, 

 but mostly small or rudimentary, hypogynous. Glands or lobes of the disk 

 as many as and alternate with the petals. Keceptadc usually hairy. Sta- 

 mens 5 or more ; filaments with the anthers inflexed in the bud. Fcrt. Ff. 

 Calyx 5- 10-cleft or parted, nearly as in the staminate flowers; but petals 

 none or minute rudiments. Ovary 3- (rarely 2-4-) celled, with a single ovule 

 in each cell ; styles dn many, from once to thrice 2-cleft. Capsule separating 



